Every Friday, Blue Jays Talk host Scott MacArthur will weigh in with his observations on the Blue Jays from the past week.
The Toronto Blue Jays are back home, ready to kick off a season-high 10-game home stand against two teams (Kansas City and Baltimore) which operate in their orbit (that is far more losses than wins) and another (Boston) which, despite its flaws, aspires to make the playoffs and defend its world championship.
Onward, then, with my thoughts on the state of the Blue Jays.
THOUGHT: I promise you I’m not writing this to bring up memories of Victoria Day and Vladdy Jr.’s day off, and I swear I don’t think the Blue Jays’ front office should make this move just because Monday is Canada Day. You make the move only when it’s right for the player and for the franchise but how cool would it be to see an infield, on Monday afternoon, featuring Vladdy at third base, Cavan Biggio at second base and … … … Bo Bichette at shortstop? The rumblings of his imminent call up and big-league debut have been reasonably loud since Bichette returned to Buffalo from a brief rehab stint in Dunedin off the broken hand he suffered when hit by a pitch on April 23.
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THOUGHT: The Blue Jays should be one Eric Sogard hitting slump away from making Cavan Biggio the regular, if not daily, lead-off hitter. Sogard got Wednesday afternoon’s series finale off, vaulting Biggio to the top of the lineup and Biggio proceeded to reach base in four of his five trips to the plate (three singles, one walk). Two of Biggio’s hits were to the left side of second base, the opposite field side for a left-handed batter, and his plate discipline continues to stand out on a team with a number of players who lack it. Biggio has hit lead-off four big-league games, so it’s obviously a small sample size, posting a .444 on-base percentage. He’s not overwhelmed by the situation, this much we know.
THOUGHT: I’m eager to see Sean Reid-Foley pitch Friday night against the Kansas City Royals. Reid-Foley’s only other start with the Blue Jays this season came in the season’s fifth game and it was against another lowlight team, the Baltimore Orioles. The start did not go well. Reid-Foley was gone after just two innings, bitten by a couple of walks, just as many wild pitches, a handful of hits and some bad defence.
Remember, Reid-Foley pitched the last game of Grapefruit League, in Lakeland against the Tigers, knowing a good start would secure him a spot in the rotation in place of Ryan Borucki, who’d gone down with a left elbow problem. Reid-Foley didn’t pitch well, which is being diplomatic, on that March Sunday, but still secured a shot at a start because Clayton Richard’s knee prevented him from starting the season healthy and Clay Buchholz was still working toward a mid-April Blue Jays debut.
Who, exactly, will Reid-Foley be as a consistent big-league pitcher if he’ll be one at all? He has two main pitches, a fastball and a slider, and has been working on a cutter as a third option. Two-pitch guys typically don’t last as starters. Add to it Reid-Foley’s command issues, particularly with his fastball, and he has a lot to prove.
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THOUGHT: This is a lost season and so, as I’ve advocated in the past, you’ve got to find a player or two you choose to watch and track his development. It’s easy to lose sight of the small victories. How about Lourdes Gurriel Jr.? The man is an assist machine in left field, using his hose for an arm to throw out base runners at second base and home plate. And since his recall from Buffalo on May 24, Gurriel Jr. is slashing .347/.385/.727 with 12 home runs (he had none in 13 games prior to being sent down in mid-April), eight doubles and a triple to help account for his 42 hits in that span. We’d love to see more walks, but Gurriel Jr. is the least of the Jays’ concerns right now.
Also, he’s thriving in left field. I don’t see why there should be any consideration to trying to move him back into the infield. This clearly is working. Don’t fix what isn’t broken.
